


A Land Serene, A Crystal Moon

by Aurum_Auri



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Catboy Yuri Plisetsky, Labyrinth AU, M/M, Victor as Jareth the Goblin King, Yuuri as Sarah, hamster boy phichit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 19:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21784240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurum_Auri/pseuds/Aurum_Auri
Summary: When Yuuri makes a careless wish, the Goblin King appears to steal Vicchan away from him. Now Yuuri is on a quest to get Vicchan back. But there is more than meets the eye, especially on an adventure through a world that defies all logic and sense.Labyrinth AU
Comments: 16
Kudos: 132





	A Land Serene, A Crystal Moon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShipperOtaku](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=ShipperOtaku).



> For ShipperOtaku!! 
> 
> I’m sorry!! I had to remove the bog of eternal stench and Sir Didymus for word count reasons. I hope that all the rest of it makes up for it 🙏

Wind stirred the trees, the scent of rain and clouds heavy in the air. Yuuri lifted his chin. “Give me the child. Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here, to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child that you have! For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great.”

Thunder roared. Yuuri looked toward the sky, closing the book he’d been reading aloud from. As the wind kicked up again, the scent of rain grew stronger. Yuuri swore under his breath. The storm. He had thought there’d be more time before the rain arrived. 

Yuuri turned on his heel, sprinting toward the nearby apartment building. “Oh, Vicchan, Vicchan,” Yuuri whispered, buzzing himself into the building, and he sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He was breathing hard, the thunder rolling louder as Yuuri unlocked his door. It was too late. 

The apartment was in total disarray. Yuuri let out a sound of frustration and anguish as another rumble of thunder shook the building. A low doggie whine cut the air. From under a pile of couch cushion stuffing, a small brown shape bolted toward Yuuri, leaping up into his arms with little whimpers and cries. 

“Oh, Vicchan, Vicchan,” Yuuri sighed. He gazed around the destroyed apartment. “How on earth can such a little dog cause so much destruction?”

The toy poodle nuzzled its nose into Yuuri’s damp jacket. Yuuri sank into the torn up couch with a groan. “It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here. Little menace. This fear of storms is exhausting, you know?” Yuuri said frankly, lifting Vicchan to look him in the eye. “You need to calm down.”

Vicchan whined and swam his paws through open air, his ears defensive. His tiny tail barely moved. 

“If you’re not careful, I’ll send the Goblin King after you,” Yuuri scolded. “He’ll steal you away, and I’ll never see you again.” Vicchan whined again. “That’s right. There was once a princess with a wicked little doggie who caused endless problems. But what no one knew was that the Goblin King had fallen in love with her, and gave her certain powers.

“So one night, when the puppy had been especially naughty, destroying all of the princess’s possessions, she asked the goblins for help, and she said the magic words.”

Vicchan let out a tiny, pathetic puppy sob, and Yuuri sighed, standing with Vicchan in his arms. “I know you’re scared of storms, but there’s nothing to be afraid of! Certainly not worth destroying my apartment.” Yuuri looked around in despair, his frustration almost overwhelming. 

He walked over to Vicchan’s kennel. “I don’t want to do this. But I need to clean all this up,” Yuuri whispered, placing the dog inside. He closed the door, and Vicchan’s cries filled the air. He scrabbled against his kennel, his tiny paws fighting against the wire mesh door to no avail. Yuuri closed the door to the room, sinking to his knees. The apartment was a wreck. It would take forever to clean. 

Yuuri picked up an acrylic cat charm off the floor, looking at its cute, dirt-smudged face. Yuuri slowly polished it off and slipped it in his pocket to put away later. Vicchan’s cries grew louder. 

“Oh, I wish the goblins would take you away,” Yuuri whispered. His heart ached. The crying stopped. 

Yuuri blinked. He looked around, then rose to his feet slowly. It was suddenly too quiet. He peered around the door. Silence still. Not even the smallest snuffle from the kennel, not a single low whine. 

Yuuri crept inside. “Vicchan?” He peered into the darkened kennel, thinking he had heard a breath. Empty. 

From the corner of his eye, he saw movement. Yuuri whirled, but nothing was there. Yuuri looked back toward the window, thinking he saw something shimmy down the curtains, but the room was empty. He was hearing things. He was going mad. Motion blurred past the corners of his eyes, but nothing was there. 

Yuuri cried out, stumbling backwards as the windows flew open, timed with a flash of day-bright lightning. He was blinded, almost unable to make out the tall, lean figure sauntering into the room. He knew without even thinking, like breathing, like blinking. 

Yuuri covered his mouth. “You’re Victor the Goblin King.” Standing before Yuuri, dressed in a white, ruffled shirt, knee high boots, and skintight leggings that showed all of his… assets, was the Goblin King himself, Victor Nikiforov. 

The shock wore off more quickly than expected. “I want my dog back. Give him back!” Yuuri demanded. 

Victor cocked his head, his eyes cold and beautiful. His silver hair fluffed around his head. “What’s said is said. It can’t be undone so easily. Forget your dog, he’s mine now, my lovely little Yuuri.”

“I’m not letting you go anywhere until you give him back!” Yuuri said. He took a step closer. Victor smiled and moved aside, gesturing to the window. 

“Alas, I can’t. He’s in my castle now.” Yuuri’s jaw dropped as he looked at the horizon. The usual city skyline had been replaced by an enormous labyrinth that ended in a towering castle. “I suppose if you really want him back, you can come and get him. But my labyrinth is not for the faint of heart. And you, Yuuri, could never make it through.”

Yuuri’s cheeks burned. “We’ll see about that.”

Victor waved his hand, and Yuuri looked around, realizing he was no longer in his bedroom. He was in the middle of a field outside the labyrinth. A clock appeared, the hands beginning to tick. 

“You have until the clock strikes 13 to reach my castle, if you really think you can get your little Vicchan back. Otherwise, he is mine forever,” Victor said. 

Yuuri stared into Victor’s eyes. “I will get him back,” Yuuri said. He squinted at Victor. “I’m not afraid of your labyrinth.”

Victor’s lips quirked up into a half smile. “Good, my lovely little Yuuri. Then I will see you within. But should you fail, don’t forget what’s at stake.” 

And then Victor vanished. Yuuri blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The magic seemed to change things wherever Yuuri wasn’t looking, leaving things different by the time Yuuri looked back. He looked back up. The labyrinth looked absolutely  _ massive _ , the kind of huge that would make traversing it seem more like a weeklong endeavor than something done in thirteen hours. 

Anxiety gripped his heart. Thirteen hours suddenly seemed so short. Victor didn’t think he could do it. But there was no choice at all. He took one step, then another, feeling his confidence build. “I will reach the center,” Yuuri said fiercely. 

He pressed his palms to the wall, trying to find a way in. The wall was perfectly smooth, with no marks or seams to note. Yuuri followed the length of it, but the seamless wall continued. Despair clutched his heart. “I can’t even get in?” he shouted. 

“The door is right there. Moron,” came a low, grumbly voice. Yuuri turned, and he spotted a smallish figure perched at the side of a pond, drawing in the mud with a stick. The figure rose to its feet. It was a blond boy with pointed ears and filthy clothes, a cat tail curling behind him. 

“Where? I can’t find it,” Yuuri said, turning to the wall, still void of doors, and then back to the figure. 

“What’s your name?” the boy asked, narrowing his eyes at Yuuri. His fingers twitched, and Yuuri noticed little claws at the tips. 

“I’m Yuuri. And you are?”

“You can’t be Yuuri! I’m Yuri!” the boy suddenly hissed, launching to his feet. “This isn’t fair, why does that asshole king get to do whatever he wants-” Yuri froze in place, immediately dropping back to a crouch. His lips curled in a low snarl. “Change your name. And the door is, like I said, right  _ there,  _ you idiot.” Yuri waved his hand, gesturing toward the wall. 

A low creaking sound filled the air. Huge wooden doors swung open right behind Yuuri, revealing the way inside. “How did it-” Yuuri trailed off, then beamed. “Thank you, Yuri!”

“Don’t thank me. You’re the idiot going in the labyrinth, after all,” Yuri said. “Even if you go in, you’ll never be able to come out again.”

“We’ll see about that,” Yuuri said, before marching inside. The way went left and right in either direction. He thought for a moment and took a step to the left. 

“Wrong way.  _ Idiot,” _ Yuri hissed. Yuuri took a step back and started down the right. “Better. God, you’re not going to get very far, are you? Good riddance.”

And then the doors slammed shut. 

Yuuri shook his head. Yuri looked a bit like a pop star back home, a singer by the name of Takao. It was a little funny, actually, even if the personalities were a night and day difference. Yurio. 

Yuuri started walking. Navigating the twists and turns was a game of pure chance. The crumbling interior walls made it impossible to guess which way would lead him true. Yuuri took a long, slow breath. He just had to keep walking. 

…

In the castle, a dog cried. Victor scooped Vicchan up, studying the beady black eyes. The dog barked, and its tail began to wag. Goblins tumbled and wrestled and ate in the room around him, none of them paying their king any mind. 

“All these goblins. All this work. And still I feel so lonely.” Victor said softly. He looked out the window, gazing out to where he knew Yuuri was picking his way through. “I’ve always wanted a little doggie, you know. I’ve always wanted… more. Life and love. Your Yuuri is a fool, you know. In nine hours and twenty three minutes, you’re mine.”

Victor was quiet, and then, even softer than before, he sang under his breath. “I saw my baby, cryin’ hard as babe could cry… what could I do?”

…

Yuuri turned around with a scream. “This labyrinth keeps changing!” He had left marks on the stones, only to find they stones had been flipped and rotated when his back was turned. It was like the very earth beneath his feet was actively trying to keep him from reaching the center. “There are no doors, no ways through, only dead ends!” 

“There are doors right here, silly!” 

“Well, except only one of us leads the way you want to go,” a second voice said pensively. Yuuri turned, shocked two see two faces in the doors. They were nearly identical, except one face was more feminine and one was more masculine. Their violet eyes gleamed. 

“True. One of the doors will lead you true, and one door will lead you to certain death. And the other problem…”

“One of us will only tell the truth,” the masculine door said. “While the other only lies. She only lies.”

The feminine door pouted. “I do not! I always tell the truth!”

“Liar,” the masculine door said. 

“I always hated this riddle “ Yuuri said, rubbing his face as panic welled in his chest. He was going to be shot down so soon. Unless...

He looked at the female door. He needed a question where it didn’t matter which was lying and which was telling the truth. He drummed his chin, then the anxiety faded slightly. “Would he say his door leads to the castle?”

The female door blinked. “Ah- oh. No…?”

Yuuri took a slow breath. “That’s it. His door is the right one, then.” Yuuri grinned as he pushed the door open. Then… he promptly fell. 

…

Victor paused, studying a crystal with great intent. “He’s… in the oubliette…” he murmured. “He should have already given up. Why is he not turning back?”

Vicchan woofed. Victor gave the dog a withering look. 

“You know, you really aren’t helping matters, no matter how cute you are. Your master needs to turn back now before he gets any closer. He’s a fool.”

Vicchan barked again, tail wagging happily. 

Victor scoffed loudly. “It’s no matter. Once the cat leads him back to the entrance, he’ll give up, seeing he has to start over. Surely… he can’t be that stubborn…”

Victor gazed into the crystal, watching Yuuri sit himself up and dust the dirt from his clothes. He cast the crystal away with a frown. Too stubborn for his own good. 

...

Yuuri landed with a  _ whumph _ in total darkness. In the distance, a faint light glittered around a corner, then grew brighter. Yuuri shrank back, wincing. There was nowhere to hide. The light continued to grow brighter and brighter. 

Yuuri held his breath. A blond head came around the corner, pointed, fuzzy ears twitching in irritation. “There you are. I knew you’d get yourself in trouble. Got further than I expected, though,” Yurio grumbled. He carried a torch in his hand, using it to light the way. 

“Where are we?” Yuuri asked, looking at nondescript stone walls. “I fell, and-”

“Oubliette. Where people get put to be forgotten,” Yurio said, picking a discarded door up off the floor and propping it up against the wall. He turned the knob, and it revealed a corridor. “Now hurry up. I’m sure you’re ready to get out of this labyrinth and back home.”

Yuuri crossed his arms. “I’m not leaving. Not without Vicchan.”

“He’s just a smelly dog, can’t you get another one?” Yurio groused. “Just leave already.”

“Vicchan isn’t just some dog. He’s my dog. And even when he’s scared of storms, or barking at the door, he’s still my friend. I’m not leaving without him and that’s that.”

Yurio trembled with barely contained rage. His tail was bristling as he stalked down the hall. “Well it isn’t like you have much choice, do you? You don’t know your way through here. And I’m  _ not _ taking one more step towards that castle. You can’t make me.”

“Then I won’t make you. It doesn’t matter if I don’t know my way. I’ve been doing alright so far,” Yuuri scoffed. He smiled. “You’re underestimating me.”

“I am not!” Yurio hissed. He yanked at his hair. “Ugh. Fine. Find your own way if you like. Otherwise, the way out is this way.” 

Yuuri turned and walked the other way. He heard distant footsteps scurry behind him.

“Really? You’re still going to that dumb old castle? Victor is waiting up there, you know.”

“Victor doesn’t scare me.”

“He should, he’s an uncompromising pain in the ass. If you’re lucky, he’s already forgotten about you. If you aren’t lucky… you’re not going to make it any further than this without help, is all I’m saying.”

Yuuri was quiet for a while. He had made it this far alone, but there were things that he never would have seen without help. Twice, it had been Yurio who showed him the door. As much as Yuuri hated to admit it...

“Then help me,” Yuuri said. Yurio made a face. “What if I gave you this?” He searched his pockets, finding the cat charm from before. He held it up. 

Yurio’s eyes lit up. “What is this? This is amazing!” He took it gingerly in his hands, tail swishing back and forth behind him. Yuuri smiled as Yurio’s face brightened. There was holographic foil inside the charm, and in the flickering firelight, it looked dazzling. Yurio looked it over, childlike with wonder.

Yurio looked up, and immediately flushed bright red, a frown covering his face. He stuffed the charm in one of his pockets. “I mean, it’s alright. Okay, fine, I’ll take you as far as I can. No further, though, okay?”

“Thank you. You’re a good friend.”

Yurio went twelve shades of red. “F-friend? I’m not your friend, okay! Let’s just- we need to go, now!”

Yuuri smiled as he followed Yurio. They walked through darkened tunnels, the only sound the soft scapes of their shoes over dirt and rocks. “Do you not like being called my friend?” Yuuri asked. 

“I’m not anyone’s friend. I don’t need friends.”

Yuuri hummed softly. “I know what you mean. I don’t like the thought of needing someone’s help. But the more time I spend in Victor’s labyrinth… the more I get the feeling that there’s something I’ve forgotten. The more I feel like I had help before, and just can’t remember it. There’s this feeling I get that I can’t explain.”

“Maybe you’re just crazy,” Yurio said. 

Yuuri hummed again, smiling. “Maybe. But in here, you’re the only friend I’ve got.”

Yurio slowed his pace. At the end of the path, a crumpled old crone sat in silence, rattling a cup and dressed in a pile of rags. Yuuri slowly approached, curious about the figure. Of course he had seen a few creatures inside the labyrinth, but they were far and few and all quite strange to behold. A streak of silver decorated the creature’s hat. 

Suddenly, the crone stood, much taller than expected. The rags fell away and revealed Victor standing there, gleaming in the darkness of the oubliette. Yuuri let out a sound of shock, and Yurio fell back with a low hiss of surprise. 

“Little Yuri, you aren’t  _ helping  _ Yuuri, are you?”

Yurio laughed harshly. He took a step away from Yuuri’s side. “Me? Help him? Yeah right. I’m leading him back to the entrance.”

“You’re  _ what?” _ Yuuri said. “You said you were taking me further in!”

“I was  _ lying,”  _ Yurio scoffed. 

Victor smirked. “Well, if that’s right, then I have nothing to worry about. But if I were to suspect that you were lying…”

“N-no, of course not, Your Majesty!” Yurio stammered. He looked paler than Yuuri had seen him. 

“You don’t want to meet Lilia again, do you?” Yurio turned even paler than before, somehow. Victor turned toward Yuuri. “And as for you. How do you like my labyrinth?” Victor crooned. 

He cocked his hips, and Yuuri found his gaze unconsciously drawn down to the suspiciously prominent bulge in the tights. “It’s easy,” Yuuri said boldly. “Nothing to it.”

Victor beamed. “That does make me happy to hear. Why don’t I up the stakes a little, then?” Victor gestured to a clock that had appeared behind him, and time unwound itself, the hands spinning faster than normal. Yuuri lost hours of time within seconds. 

“You can’t do that!” Yuuri cried out. 

Victor shrugged. “I can, and I did. Surrender, Yuuri. It will be easier for us all if you go back home. Go home and forget about everything. It’s what we both deserve.” Victor snapped his fingers. 

He disappeared, and a huge metal contraption took his place. It groaned to life, all gnashing gears and spinning drills. 

Yurio shouted, “The cleaners! Run!” The huge device lurched forward, racing toward them both. They ran, and it stayed close on their heels, devouring every bit of scattered stone and debris in its path. Yuuri grabbed Yurio by the wrist and dragged him down a narrow corridor. 

They had barely slipped out of the way, before the lurching, groaning machine steamrolled past them, driven by a pair of little goblins. 

Both Yuri and Yuuri let out identical sighs of relief. “Where do we go now?” Yuuri asked. 

Yurio huffed, looking incredulously at Yuuri. “You’re still asking me, after what I just said to Victor?”

“You were lying to him, right?” Yuuri said. “We had a deal. You wouldn’t go back on a deal, would you?” 

Yurio flushed. “I had a deal with Victor, too, you know. To take you back to the start. But he didn’t promise me anything good. He’s just mad because no matter how hard he tries he can’t forget the fact that he loves y-” Yurio broke off with a squeak, covering his mouth and blushing even darker than before. “No one! Loves no one.”

Yuuri looked at him suspiciously. “Who were you going to say?”

“I said absolutely no one,” Yurio spat, grabbing Yuuri’s hand and leading him to a ladder. “Come on, up here.”

“Are we going back to the start?”

“No, okay? Victor is a freaking idiot Goblin King and I don’t want to listen to him anymore. So we’re doing this your way. Maybe it’ll teach him a lesson.” Yurio started to climb the ladder. 

Yuuri grinned and followed behind. 

They emerged in a clearing, continuing their way through the labyrinth. Each section of the maze offered new challenges, and this hedge maze portion was no different. Trying to grab for the bushes resulted in branches and vines smacking their hands away, so climbing or peering through were both ruled out. The vines grew this way and that, and when Yuuri turned back after a dead end, he finally realized why he’d been so turned around. 

Yurio was gone from sight, and the path back was now yet another dead end. “The maze is changing!” Yuuri groaned. “Yurio! Yuri! Where are you?” There was no answer. 

“You look turned around,” a high pitched voice said. Yuuri looked around, but he couldn’t find anyone. “Down here! Yuuri, I’m here!”

Yuuri glanced down, spotting a tiny fuzzy creature on the ground. He stooped to pick it up. The hamster was a creamy orange color with a splash of dark brown on its head and a brilliant smile on its face. It squeaked at him and then  _ grew.  _

Suddenly Yuuri found himself with an armful of person. A grinning young man around Yuuri’s age threw his arms around Yuuri’s neck. The same pair of hamster ears twitches atop his head, and the broad smile was the same as well. “Hi! I’m Phichit! Happy to finally meet you!”

“Whoa,” Yuuri gasped, nearly losing his grip. He gently put Phichit down. “Uh, hi! Nice to meet you too. Have you seen a cat boy around here? He’s supposed to be showing me the way to the castle.”

“Hmmm,” Phichit said, glancing around him. “I can’t say I have. Why do you want to go to that scary place anyway?”

“I have something I need to do. The Goblin King took my friend away from me and I need them back. I don’t have much time left, either.”

“Oh, I see,” Phichit said. “I heard that the Goblin King was lonely, but I had no idea he was resorting to stealing now trying to fix it.”

“Lonely?” Yuuri asked. 

Phichit nodded. “He wasn’t always scary like this. He used to smile a lot. Then his life and love vanished, and his smile went away too. Come on, you’re going to get your friend back, right?”

“Yeah. I’m looking for a cat boy, too. His name is Yuri.”

“I’m sure he’s around. Let’s start looking!” Phichit said. “We can work our way to the castle while we look.”

Yuuri smiled. They searched through the paths, and all the while, they called out for Yurio. 

…

Yuri hissed as he was pressed against the bushes. Victor turned to face him, expression cold. “You don’t know what you’re getting into by helping him.”

“What do you care,” Yuri hissed. “You turned your back on him.”

“And I’m sure you have no selfish motivations of your own, by helping him,” Victor said frostily. “You’re doing it entirely out of the goodness of your own heart.”

Yuri looked away. “Shut up. He’s been… nice to me. He called me his friend.”

“If you don’t want to suffer more than you already have, I suggest you give Yuuri this,  _ before _ he makes this harder for us all.” In Victor’s hand, he held a delicate, soft pink peach. “He only needs to take a bite.”

Yuri hissed as he took it. “You’re pathetic, you know. A coward.” 

“And you’re going back on our deal,” Victor said simply. “Now give that to him, before things get worse.” Yuri turned away, tail lashing angrily. Victor vanished like a distant dream, but his words echoed on the air. 

Yuri stared at the hedge where he could hear Yuuri’s distant voice echoing, calling out for him. “How can things possibly get worse?” Yuri whispered. “Please… why can’t you remember how it used to be?”

He couldn’t help but sigh and turn his head, starting to walk. Everyone else had already made their mind up. Yuri was the only one who didn’t know what to do now. 

“Idiots. Everyone here is an idiot. But… especially me. I hate this,” Yuri growled, kicking a rock at the hedge. The hedge shook its branches at him threateningly. Yuri hissed and turned away, holding the peach delicately in his hand. He needed to find Yuuri again. 

…

“Run!” Phichit yelled. “I’ll distract them!”

A herd of wild, red furred creatures chased them through a dense patch of jungle. “Don’t fall behind!” Yuuri called back. The things had been tossing their limbs around, throwing their heads in the air. 

So Yuuri had gotten a little frustrated and thrown their heads into the trees. He hadn’t intended to make them so upset. He grabbed Phichit’s shoulder. “Turn into a hamster again!”

Phichit nodded, and his body shrank into a tiny handful of fur. Yuuri scooped him up and poured on the speed. He wasn’t the fastest runner, but he had a leg up on the creatures in terms of stamina, as they started to slow behind him. Their screams and yells were starting to fade, when Yuuri ran into a wall. 

“Oh, damn, another dead end,” Yuuri gasped. He could hear the wild things catching up. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know!” Phichit cried. 

“Grab this, idiots,” Yurio hissed. He tossed down a rope from the top of the wall. 

“Yurio! I am so glad to see you!” Yuuri said, grabbing the end. He placed Phichit on his shoulder and started to climb, hand over hand, bracing his legs against the wall. The wild things caught up, gathering and jeering and trying to pull him down. Yuuri managed to pull himself out of their reach. 

He was breathing hard as he landed atop the wall. “Yurio?” Yurio said, giving Yuuri a dark look. 

“Sorry, I just… it felt weird with us having the same name. I can call you Yuri, if it bothers you.”

Yurio considered it, then looked away. “You can say it, but no one else. Come on, you don’t have a lot of time, right?”

“Yeah, let's get moving,” Yuuri said. 

Phichit grew on Yuuri’s shoulder, clinging to Yuuri’s back until his feet hit the ground and he slid off. “Man that was close! I’m glad you got there when you did!”

“Yeah yeah, don’t worry about it,” Yurio said. For a long time, they walked, picking their way out of the jungle and into a paved area. 

A low growl filtered through the air. Phichit yelped. “What was that?”

Yuuri shrank in his shirt. “Ah, just my stomach. I’m getting a bit hungry.”

Yurio coughed. He was looking away, like he wanted to say something. Yuuri kept walking. After a few steps, Yurio tugged Yuuri’s sleeve. “I uh, I found this. Do you want it?”

He held a perfect pink peach in his palm. 

Yuuri beamed. “Ah, thank you, Yurio! It looks delicious.” He took a bite, the juice dripping down his chin. He was hit by a sudden wave of exhaustion. 

“Yuuri?” Phichit called. 

Yuuri slumped. “I feel… funny…” he slurred. “What- what was in that peach-” He misstepped, then tumbled forward, asleep before he even hit the ground. 

Yuuri opened his eyes to a dazzling ballroom. He looked down at himself, seeing a richly designed white dress, billowing with thick, full skirts around his hips and a tight bodice making it hard to breathe. Yuuri’s hair was slicked back and adorned with crystal decorations. 

Laughter filled the air, and he looked up. The room was teeming with bodies, people dressed up with grotesque, goblin-like masks and expensive finery. They danced with abandon, spinning this way and that to music Yuuri could just make out. 

Yuuri took a cautious step forward, then another. There were words balanced on the tip of his tongue that he couldn’t identify. He had a feeling like there was something he had forgotten, but it was just out of reach and he couldn’t remember. 

He looked around. At the top of a flight of stairs, he saw Victor slowly pull a mask from his face. Their eyes met. A frisson ripped through Yuuri’s body, leaving chills in its wake. 

That feeling of oblivion grew stronger the longer their eyes stayed locked together. It was so close, Yuuri could almost taste it. He felt like he was under a spell. A tiny smile pulled at Victor’s lips, tiny and private, but shining in his eyes. 

Yuuri  _ wanted.  _ Yuuri reached for him, taking a step closer. But he blinked, and Victor vanished. Yuuri took another step, trying to move through the tightly packed bodies, but it was like wading through quicksand. Every step he took seemed to make the next one even harder. 

Yuuri looked around, desperately trying to find Victor. He thought he saw a flash of white moving closer to him, the soft, bright splash of Victor’s hair through the crowd. There were too many people to be sure, but Yuuri kept moving anyway. 

In his heart, a little voice was singing with desire. He’d never in his life seen something quite like Victor. He cut and ethereal figure in the mass of people, and once Yuuri spotted him, it was impossible to look away. 

Victor linked arms with someone nearby. His dark purple glittery suit jacket made him stunning to behold, made the person he danced with seem like a nobody, an extra, a faceless member of the crowd. The two of them slowly turned along with the steps of the dance, until someone blocked Yuuri’s sight. 

Jealousy flared. Indignantly, Yuuri pushed forward, just missing the way Victor smiled at him from behind him, hiding behind a folding fan. 

Victor was everywhere and nowhere, just within reach and yet taunting Yuuri with his distance. And all the while Yuuri burned, inside and out until he thought he might suffocate under his own raw  _ want _ . 

There were too many people, too many sights and sounds to take in. Yuuri pushed through, every part of him yearning more deeply than he ever had before. He locked eyes with Victor once more, just across the way, closer than ever before. 

Yuuri reached out. Their fingers touched, and Victor vanished. 

Yuuri wanted to scream. Hands closed around his waist, spinning him around, and Yuuri was ready to fight back. A bright, open smile met him, blue eyes soft and warm and full of a tender sort of love. Yuuri melted as Victor led him by the hand into an open space. 

There was room to move here, and Victor drew Yuuri into a slow, simple dance. It seemed as though neither could quite look away. They swayed to the sound of the music, and that unspoken thing in Yuuri’s chest ached worse than ever before. 

“My life and love,” Victor crooned. “What’s wrong?”

“My head feels funny,” Yuuri said honestly. “I feel as though there’s something I’ve forgotten.”

“Forgetting is good,” Victor said softly. “Forgetting means you no longer hurt.”

“But there’s still hurt,” Yuuri said softly. “There’s a pain that won’t go away. And I feel like… without answers, it’s only going to get worse.”

Victor cocked his head, his eyes fluttering low. “My sweet Yuuri. You’re not forgetting hard enough, then.”

“No,” Yuuri said, shaking his head. Whatever it was, it was gnawing at him, worse now that ever. “Something isn’t right. Something here, it’s wrong, this is wrong!” Yuuri screamed. He broke away from Victor. 

From a nearby table, he grabbed a chair, turning to a mirror. He smashed the chair down over the glass, and the world started to spin and whirl. There was screaming, louder and louder, dissolving into sobs. Some were his. Some were someone else’s, lost to the oblivion of the dark. 

Yuuri sat up with a gasp. He was surrounded by junk, Phichit and Yurio sitting nearby. “You’re awake!” Phichit said. “I was worried sick. You, apologize!” He jabbed a finger at Yurio. 

Yurio grumbled loudly at Phichit. He turned to Yuuri, looking at his shoes. His expression turned sheepish. “I’m… I’m sorry I gave you the peach. Victor made me! He didn't give me any choice-”

“No,” Yuuri said softly. “It’s okay. I’m glad you gave it to me. I think… I understand what’s going on now. Come on, how much further to the castle?” Yuuri stood up, his legs a little quivery still but mostly strong. 

“Not far,” Yurio said. He beckoned them both forward. “Just past the edge of this trash heap, there’s the Goblin City. We make it through there, we make it to the castle gates.”

Yuuri nodded. Resolve built in his chest, stronger now than before. 

…

“Victor… sir…” one of the goblins croaked. 

Victor fixed him with a solid glare. “What is it?”

“Yuuri, he’s made it to the city gates. The other goblins have armed themselves. They’re ready to defend the city to stop him from getting here. On your command, of course.”

Victor shook his head. He could see Yuuri walking forward with his chin held high, only a few scant feet from the gates and a sleeping guard. “No. Let them through. I’ll deal with Yuuri myself.”

…

Getting into the city was easier than expected. The guard was sleeping soundly, and Phichit was able to slip inside with his hamster size and then unbar the door for them. 

The city was deserted. 

“It’s quiet…” Yuuri whispered. “They should be attacking, right?”

“They were going to,” Yurio said. “That was Victor’s plan, if you had managed to get this far.”

“He thought I would make it this far,” Yuuri murmured. It made his heart flutter weakly. No matter how much Victor had tried to stop Yuuri, he had still planned for Yuuri to make it all the way to the castle gates. “Then where is the Goblin army?”

“Beats me. Even if we did slip past the guard, they would have started mobilizing the second we got out of that trash heap. Victor must be planning something else.”

“I need to face him alone,” Yuuri said. 

“But wait, Yuuri-” Phichit said. 

Yuuri shook his head. “No, I need to do this. I’ll call for you if I need help. But… this is something I need to deal with. Just the two of us.”

They both reluctantly nodded. “Okay, but we’ll be waiting out here for you,” Yurio said. 

Phichit nodded. “Anything you need. That’s what friends are for, right?” Yuuri smiled and nodded. He pressed his hands to the castle gates and pushed. They gave easily. There was the sound of groaning wood, and then Yuuri was enveloped in darkness. He followed the single point of light. 

Yuuri soon found himself in a twisted, Escher-esque room. Stairs led in every direction, not just up and down, but also side to side and upside down, curving in ways that defied gravity and logic. Yuuri took shaky steps up the first staircase, stopping at a dead end that curved and traveled sideways. 

“Yuuri.”

Yuuri turned, seeing Victor standing behind him, upside down. Victor walked up the down staircase, landing with his feet on the same plane as Yuuri, their eyes level. 

“Give Vicchan back,” Yuuri said. 

“Why?” Victor tipped his head. “You wished him away, and I did exactly as you asked. That’s why I brought him here. Why are you so quick to take him back?” A curious venom colored Victor’s tone. 

Yuuri let out a shallow breath. “Because even when things get hard, even when we misunderstand each other, he’s still my friend. He’s innocent. He doesn’t know what he did wrong, he was just… lashing out. He doesn’t know that everything is always my fault. I just want a good life for him.”

“And you thought, for even a second, that a life alone, a life without you, was better?” Victor scoffed. He looked Yuuri in the eyes, the coldness so alien after the warmth from the dream. “You thought it was best to just end it?”

Victor’s eyes sparkled. A single tear slipped down his cheek as he trembled with anger. 

“You thought you could just vanish like that?”

Yuuri reached out, brushing Victor’s hair from his temple. He bowed his head. “I’m sorry I ruined things,” Yuuri whispered. “But you have to stop hurting the people here. You have to be strong and let me finish this.”

“You don’t have to,” Victor whispered intensely. “Please, I let you forget everything once before, and I can do it again if I must. But you… you can’t just come back like this. You can’t act like you know what I want and then twist my heart in my chest.”

“I’m sorry, Victor. I didn’t realize I was being so cruel and selfish. I understand now,” Yuuri said softly. “And I know that you don’t want me to leave. You tell me to forget, but that’s not what you want at all, is it?”

Victor broke down, tears falling faster. “Fear me, love me. Do as I say and I will be your slave. Stay with me. I have nothing without you, Yuuri. Please.”

Yuuri shook his head. “You and I both know that’s not true. Victor…”

Victor sniffled, his soft, tear-stained expression turning cold. Victor started to pull away, but Yuuri seized him by the shirt.

“Wait. What happened before was… I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t confident enough. I wasn’t enough for you, Victor, and that scared me.”

Victor shook his head. Their foreheads touched. Yuuri wasn’t sure if the trembling was him or Victor. “You’re always enough. More than enough, more than I could ever take, and yet I always wanted more. I have given you everything, and I will give you more if you ask for it. Say the words, Yuuri. Say you’ll be mine. Please, I’m begging you. I’ll fall on my knees and beg you.”

“I see now,” Yuuri whispered. “Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here, to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the puppy that you have. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great. I am not afraid anymore.”

Victor looked ready to break down completely. Yuuri rose onto the tips of his toes, tilting Victor’s head up. Slowly, so slowly, Yuuri kissed him. “And I am not afraid to stay by your side, Victor. No longer will you be alone.” Victor jolted in surprise. 

Their lips met more firmly now, then with fire between them, searing brilliant and hot. Victor held Yuuri like a man possessed, like he was scared Yuuri would disappear if his grip so much as wavered for a second. 

His body was heavier than ever before, but he sank into Victor’s arms. He was home. He was where he belonged. 

A soft barking filled the air. Yuuri tipped his head back, breaking for air. A tiny poodle came sprinting down a staircase, bounding toward Yuuri. He leapt into Yuuri’s arms. Yuuri couldn’t help but laugh, leaning against Victor. “Vicchan, I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“He’s a precious little thing. I couldn’t bear the thought of him leaving, the way I didn’t want to lose you,” Victor said. 

“Well, I’m here now,” Yuuri said. “Your life and love aren’t gone. They’re right here. And I’m not going anywhere ever again.”

  
  
  
  



End file.
